An award-winning director of intense, often dark films about strong and unusual women, she earned international acclaim for An Angel at My Table (1990), originally a TV miniseries based on the life of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Her other movies include The Piano (1993), which won numerous Academy Awards, including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Screenwriter, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture. Her other films include After Hours (1984), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), Holy Smoke (1999), and In the Cut (2003).